In its increasing quest for Microsoft to better its user-friendly nature, their latest OS, Windows 10, offered as a free upgrade to the current users of Windows 7 and Windows 8, it seems that the complaints with regard to their previous versions have been taken enough note of. Also tagging along is the buzz about the air of sophistication that the interface has gone on to introduce.
A beefed up Start menu, freeing itself from the painful full-screen transformation of Windows 8 and its sister versions, yet ensuring that the regularly used applications get necessary attention, is an indication of the creators to get back to basics with a smart contemporary twist. There’s more to it for sure, from the debut of Microsoft’s Cortana into desktops, an equivalent of Apple’s Siri as a searching assistant into the menu to breathe life easier.
The most significant uplift expected for a user is its seamless capability to be handled across diverse platforms, be it desktops, laptops, tablets or phones. There is some ambiguity about the feasibility of all phones to accept the OS update, which the company has has promised to work on over time.
The point of having multiple monitors, the slightest of hints that you come across in Linux OS and Mac embraces as a welcome change too. While this not only eases navigation into multiple applications at once, it yet again goes onto mention the insistence of its creators to learn from the hassles that hue-filled yet procedure-like full-screen menus brought about with the redundancy. The prospect of using many applications on the same screen is a feature of its own, moving an inch ahead of the minimisation era.
Sanskar, an employee at a software firm who is yet to come to terms with the altered features is enjoying the novelty of it all for now. “The live-update like integration to the menus, the new browser Microsoft Edge taking the place of Internet Explorer has been enjoyable,” he says, hinting that it may just be a solid competitor for Google Chrome in the times to come. “The multi-tasking addition too is quite a handy one, but I really suspect if it’ll benefit those who access it for basic purposes,” Sanskar elaborates.
The gamers aren’t in for a disappointment either with the accessibility of DirectX12, that promises to enhance reality in gaming considerably, an advantage that the users with the previous versions may never have.
A prop is on, while dealing with the security as well, with the Direct Guard feature, that works when active and not hogging attention, protecting users from installation of malicious softwares and preventing hacker troubles with the consistent security patches.
However, the fact that everything is a model of picture perfection is not something that has pleased Deepa Balasubramanian, a regular Microsoft user, to great effect. “The aspect of bridging everything neatly makes it slower. The basic features feel a lot compromised including MS Office,” she says.
The use of web-browsers too, she opines, is something that eats into the system speed. Her woes don’t quite end there. “I’ve faced issues of my system hanging whenever I use the app store,” Deepa adds with a touch of disappointment.